The Slingbone: A 3D Printed, Extremely Accurate & Powerful Sling Bow Slingshot

There is a lot of discussion within the 3D printing space about the fabrication of weapons. The technology gives anyone with a computer, and access to a 3D printer, the ability to design and create their own custom weapons. There are proponents and opponents of laws that could inhibit the availability of these design files, but no matter what side of the fence you are on, we all must realize that there really is no way to stop an individual from designing his/her own weapon and then printing it out at home. At the same time, one must realize that the majority of those interested in printing potential weapons are not doing so in order to harm others.

One man, named Raymus Munt, has always enjoyed the challenges that are associated with trying new things. He considers himself a “wannabe geek who enjoys art, animation, electronics, coding, travelling and most importantly the great outdoors.”

A while back, a friend of Munt’s, who has an affinity for archery, showed him a slingbow. Munt immediately fell in love with it, and decided that he would make his very own for this friend of his.

“I researched slingbows online, and found that Jörg Sprave from the Slingshot channel had some excellent designs and I based my 3D print on his freely available Rambone,” Munt tells 3DPrint.com. “My first designs were a mashup of the Rambone with a community made whisker biscuit attachment.”

Munt, however, wasn’t very happy with the design, so he re-topologised the original Rambone STL file in Autodesk Maya and Mudbox, and then added additional slingbow features to it from another bow he found online. That other bow was considered to be the “world’s tiniest 58lb bow,” thus the potential was there for creating something really magnificent.

After hours of design work, Munt set out to 3D print his slingbow. Using his Wanhao Duplicator 4, he 3D printed his design, and then began work to assemble it. While the body of the slingbow is entirely 3D printed, it does include a few non-3D-printed parts as well. Those parts are the paracord, whisker biscuit, and Thera-band gold workout bands.

Once complete, it was time to test out the newly 3D printed slingbow, which Munt named the “Slingbone.” After shooting several arrows, he concluded that his creation was both very effective and very accurate. You can see, in the video provided below, just how powerful of a bow the slingbone really is.

Munt is a “country boy.” He created this slingbow for the sake of having fun. He has no intentions of using it as a weapon, nor would he support anyone doing so. The fact remains that if someone wishes to get a hold of a weapon, they will do so whether it is legal or not. For those of you interested in replicating this unique Slingbone, you can download the files for free on Thingiverse, and follow the instructions in the video below.

Let us know what you think of this slingbow. Discuss in the Slingbone forum thread on 3DPB.com.